and that is israel. rather, we came to affirm the legitimacy of a state that must now achieve its independence, and that is palestine. >> but the u.s. is calling it an empty gesture because it doesn't really give the palestinians what they want. anything on the ground isn't likely to change, soon. so let's take a listen to what u.s. ambassador susan rice said. she spoke a little bit about this when explaining why the u.s. voted against this measure. >> the united states agrees, strongly, today's grand pronouncement will soon fade and the palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed. >> so everyone's looking to see what president abbas does now. he says we'll go straight to negotiations. but what the u.s. is worried about is that the palestinians now have more tools to challenge israel on the international stage they could go to the criminal court over the occupation, including settlement activities and this is going to further marginalize israel. israel's th